Showing posts with label Bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bread. Show all posts
Boxty, or Irish Potato Cakes are a very traditional Irish type of bread. Also known as farls, this is a very traditional recipe for potato cakes which uses only a few ingredients. Potatoes, salt, butter and flour.
I have seen other recipes which use all sorts of additional ingredients. Baking powder, soda, buttermilk, sugar, etc. Not this recipe. This recipe for Irish Potato Cakes is about as basic as you can get. I feel it is a very authentic recipe.
I adapted the recipe from a small booklet I have called "The Cooking of Ireland." It is one of the J Salmon series that cover all sorts of topics pertaining to cookery in the British Isles. You can buy them in most bookshops and tourist spots in the UK. I loved them. They are filled with basic, delicious traditional recipes.
There is an old rhyme goes: “Boxty in the griddle, boxty in the pan, if you can’t make boxty, you’ll never get a man”. The rhyme may be somewhat outdated, misogynous even, but it certainly highlights the importance of Boxty (and men) in Irish culture.
I mean, if it makes it into an Irish ditty, it has to be special. Right???
But what exactly is Boxty and what is it's history?
At its very basic, it is simply a potato cake/bread. Baked on a flat griddle pan or stone, traditionally set over an open fire.
The name likely comes from the Irish arán bocht tÃ, meaning “poor-house bread." It could also come from the word for bakehouse, bácús..
Not quite a pancake, not quite a bread, it falls somewhere in between the two. Traditionally made with about 70% potato to 30% flour, it goes together very simply and easily.
Patted out into a rectangular shape and then cut into triangles, it is "baked" on the dry griddle pan until it is well toasted on both sides. It is a dish which dates back to well before the famine times when it was incredibly popular in Ireland. Indeed a part and fabric of Irish culture.
Let it be noted that this is not a "famine" recipe. There were no potatoes worth eating in Ireland during the potato famine. That's why so many Irish were starving to death.
There are actually three kinds of Boxty. Pan, Loaf and Boiled. This recipe I am sharing today is the pan kind, and I have to say it is best served hot, straight off the pan. Hot, buttered with jam or honey, you just can't beat it!
Its important to note that you can not use just ordinary or leftover mashed potatoes in this. They must be boiled potatoes that are then mashed, unadulterated with milk or anything else. You do mash them with a good large knob of butter while they are hot.
Other than the butter, flour and salt are the only two other ingredients. Authentically speaking. These were poor families. They didn't have huge food budgets and the potato was their main source of food.
It only makes sense that the humble potato made it into every bit of their diet. It is the Irish in me, I am sure, which accounts for my diabolical love for potatoes. It is my favorite vegetable. It is my love of potatoes that prevents me from even going on and sticking to a low carb diet.
Carbaholic? Guilty as charged and quite happily so!
You wouldn't think that a few simple ingredients could create something so tasty, but they do. Proof positive that some of the very best things in life are, and come from . . . simple things.
That being said, every house in Ireland will have a different way and manner of making Boxty, and each will claim their own as the best.
And there is nothing wrong with that. Taste is subjective after all.
I am not going to say that versions with leavening in them, or sugar are not authentic. I do think, however, that the more basic you can get with a recipe such as this one, the closer you are getting to the original.
Boxty is a staple in the rich history of the North West of Ireland and can be counted as a colorful piece of the beautiful tapestry which is traditional Irish culture.
To "bake" these I used a flat Pampered Chef Griddle pan, but you can use any large flat non-stick skillet which has a heavy bottom.
A well seasoned iron skillet would also work well.
There is no need to butter it. The Boxty will not stick. No way. No how.
You don't want the pan to be scalding hot, just hot enough to brown the bread thoroughly and begin cooking it through. Once it is browned on the underside, it will need to be flipped over to the other side to brown.
If your pan is too hot, you risk burning your Boxty, whilst leaving it still raw in the middle. A moderate heat is best.
As they say easy peasy, lemon squeasy. You can keep the baked ones warm in a low oven.
Put the kettle on and warm up the tea pot. These go great with a nice hot cuppa. Whatever makes you smile. Irish Breakfast Tea would be nice, but I will settle for a nice fruited blend of herbal infusions, or even a minty tea.
Served up hot from the griddle/oven with plenty of cold butter for spreading and some jam or honey, teatime just doesn't get much better than this. And be generous. This isn't the time to be stingy. Enjoy every mouthful and channel your inner Irish.
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
~An old Irish blessing
Boxty - Irish Potato Cakes
Yield: 12
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min
A traditional recipe, normally baked on an iron "Griddle" or in a heavy skillet. Ideal served warm with sugar and butter, but we enjoy them with butter and jam. They also go well with a full cooked breakfast.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (350g) freshly boiled potato,
- mashed with a large knob of butter
- and plenty of salt while still hot (NO milk)
- (about 1 pound peeled and mashed)
- 1 cup (140g) plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- After you have mashed your potatoes (smooth as you can) and melted the butter in them. Allow to cool completely.
- Add the flour to the mashed potatoes to make a smooth pliable dough, kneading it in.
- Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle which is 1/2 inch thick. Cut into triangles.
- Heat a dry griddle pan or heavy bottomed skillet over medium low heat.
- Place the potato cakes in it and brown first on one side, and then the other. This should take about 3 minutes per side. Don't be in a hurry. You want them to cook through the middle without burning on the outside.
- Serve warm with butter and jam.
I have never been a good bread baker, although I have always been a great lover of bread. My ex husband made great bread.
He used to make the kitchen table dance across the kitchen floor when he was kneading it and the results were fabulous.
My mother made great bread. I can remember coming home from school and smelling it baking from outside the house. I knew we were in for a real treat even before I went inside!
Does anything on earth taste as good as a slice of fresh bread, still warm from the oven, spread with cold butter??? I think not!
What if I told you that you could bake a loaf of French Bread in less than an hour with only 5 ingredients, including the salt?
Would you believe me?
I have to say I was pretty sceptical myself. I discovered this recipe on My Mundane and Miraculous Life for an easy peasy French Bread, that made this claim.
Today I aimed to see if it could actually be done. I had my doubts.
I make pretty good door stops, but bread . . . meh. French Bread? Uh-huh . . . yeh sure.
Hmmm. I didn't hold out much hope, but I was willing to try.
I have to say I was happily proven wrong . . . this recipe produced a delicious loaf of bread in less than an hour. Seriously. And I can't find anything wrong with it.
It looks pretty much like French bread or at the very least like a good Italian bread.
It has a lovely dark crust . . . and a beautifully light texture. It might not be quite as chewy as an actual loaf of French bread but why quibble . . .
And it was done in less than an hour. Seriously! It was! And I didn't mess it up either.
I didn't put quite as much salt into it as the recipe called for. I only added about 1/2 tsp, if that. We are trying to cut back on our salt in this house.
It does use rather a lot of yeast, 1 TBS, but then again that was another secret to my ex husband's bread also. He always used more yeast than the recipe asked for.
And his bread was phenomenal. Truly phenomenal.
I just used normal yeast. Not quick yeast or bread machine yeast. I am tempted to try it again one day with quick yeast and see what the results are.
My husband was really pleased that I had made it because, one . . . it tasted so good and two . . . he forgot to pick up a loaf of bread while he was out like I had asked him to.
Men. Can't live with them, and they have brains like seives.
We both enjoyed a slice, warm from the oven and spread with some cold butter . . . and I confess . . . sweet strawberry jam.
I used Bonne Maman Intense, which uses less sugar than regular jams. More fruit. Less sugar. Sign me up!!
Oh boy but this was some good. So good that I know what I am going to have for my supper tonight . . . . yep, more bread and jam!
Quick and Easy French Bread
Yield: 1 loaf
Quick, easy and incredibly tasty. If I can make this anyone can!
ingredients:
- 360ml warm water (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 TBS honey
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 TBS dry yeast
- 350g to 450g of strong bread flour (3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups)
instructions:
How to cook Quick and Easy French Bread
- Place the water, honey and yeast in a bowl. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until it turns frothy and bubbles.
- Stir it down then add half the flour and the salt. Stir together well, and then start adding the remaining flour, kneading it in until you have a dough that is not sticky and smooth.
- Shape into a loaf and place onto a baking paper lined baking sheet. Cover with a towel and leave in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/gas mark 6.
- Cut slashes in top of the loaf and then bake it in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Don't take my word for how good this is. Bake some for yourself. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!
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My mother made beautiful bread and rolls. She used to make them weekly before she started working full time, but only ever very infrequently after that.
You knew you were in for a real treat when you got home from school, and just outside of our house . . . and the air was filled with the smell of baking bread. Oh boy, but my heart did skip a beat with joy!
I am not so great at making bread. My ex husband used to make all of our bread. With five children we went through a lot of bread and so he took it upon himself when he was home to make it all. He made big beautiful big fluffy loaves.
He would dance our kitchen table across the floor when he was kneading it, flour would be everywhere . . . a huge mess for me to clean up, but I never minded because his bread was flawless. He would bake six loaves at a time.
One loaf used to disappear almost as soon as it came out of the oven. Everyone had to have a piece . . . hot and spread with cold butter. My favourite bit was always the middle fluff from where the sides of the double loaf would be stuck together . . .
I found this little Fleischmann's Yeast Leaflet the other day when I was going through an recipe box of mine. I can't tell you how old it is, but I reckon it is pretty old.
Its Canadian for one thing, the design screams 1960's to me, and all of the measurements are in cups not grams, so it predates Canada going metric with all of its measurements.
I never did cotton on to metric you know . . . I still always think in cups and ounces, quarts and miles . . . you can't teach an old dog new tricks in some respects.
And yet in many ways I am quite modern. I guess I am what they call a bit of an enigma!
Anyways, this White Batter Rolls recipe comes from that little leaflet.
There are a couple more recipes in the leaflet, for Waffles, Pan Rolls and Cinnamon Bun Loaf, plus an offer of a full sized book, "When You Bake with Yeast" for only 25cents.
Those were the days when you could trust putting a coin in an envelope along with your return address, and you knew that what you were sending for would eventually come.
Nobody would steal your coin.
I am sitting here now wondering why I didn't send for the full book.
Probably because when this came out 25 cents was a full week's allowance for me and I didn't have money for a stamp on top of that.
These White Batter Rolls sounded simple and very do-able. Quick to make as well. They were very easy to make I have to say and came out perfect.
Shortly after they came out of the oven, I rubbed the tops with some softened butter just like my mom used to do . . . old habits die hard.
There are times when you just crave a fresh bread roll. Today was one of those days . . .
These are not huge. They are just a small sized roll, but they are light and fluffy and delicious!
And they went really nicely with our dinner. What more could you want!
Yield: 12
White Batter Rolls
Simple to make and oh so fluffy, light and delicious!
ingredients:
- 180ml of milk, scalded (3/4 cup)
- 3 TBS sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 TBS shortening
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 2 additional tsp. sugar
- 4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (2 packages, NOT instant yeast)
- 280g strong flour (2 cups)
instructions:
How to cook White Batter Rolls
- Stir the 3 TBS sugar, salt and shortening into the scalded milk to melt the sugar and shortening. Stand aside to cool. Add the sugar and yeast to the lukewarm water. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then stir well. Stir in the lukewarm milk mixture. Stir in the flour until well blended, about 2 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside in a warm place until double in size, about 40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Grease a 12 cup medium-sized muffin tin well. Fill 3/4 full. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
I almost forgot to show you how nice and fluffy they were inside! Here you go. Spread with butter of course. Try not to lick the screen!
Up Tomorrow: Frank-ly Chili (A real family pleaser!)
One of the things my husband really loves is a good curry. I confess I like it too. He loves a good hot and spicy Madras, whereas I like a mild curry, where I can actually appreciate the flavour of the protein involved. SO I usually pick something in the middle, which pleases us both.
Today it was a Chicken Tikka. Nothing special, just some cubed chicken breast and . . . . I confess . . . a jar of Lloyd Grossman Tikka curry sauce.
I like the Lloyd Grossman sauces. They do cost a bit more, but they are really quite good. I did make homemade Naan breads however, which was not as hard as I thought it would be.
My Swedish friend Marie (well she is an Australian Ex-Pat who married a Swede and lives in Sweden) had sent me the links to a couple of naan bread recipes a couple of weeks back, and I printed them out.
I couldn't find the printouts or the links today however. (That is just like me, and now you know how totally disorganized I can be at times most of the time.)
In any case, I did a search for a Yeast Free Naan Bread and found this recipe, which might be one of the links she sent me, or might not. In any case it worked really well.
It was a very simple dough, using very simple ingredients, and I will confess right now, I didn't have any yogurt in the fridge (How did that happen? I always have yogurt!), but by then I was into it already and so I used sour cream instead which I felt would have approximately the same acidity and consistency needed, and as you can see it worked out really well.
You make the dough and then roll it out to a thin (1/8th inch thick) oval and then you "bake" the ovals on a hot pan/griddle.
First on one side, over medium heat just until you get blisters showing up as you can see above. It will be light golden on the under side. This only took a few minutes.
I used my Pampered Chef griddle pan. Do NOT grease it. No oil needed. Then you flip them over and bake them on the other side, for a further minute . . .
At which time they will be perfectly cooked.
They are largish, about 6 by 9 inches in size so you can really only bake one at a time, so you will want to wrap the finished ones in a clean tea towel to keep them warm while you finish baking them all.
Which won't take long. The recipe only makes 4, and they are the nicest, softest, most delicious Naan breads you could ever want.
Nice and fresh . . .
These were really lovely. Nice and soft and beautiful. I liked them much better than the ones you buy that are already baked.
Actually there is no comparison really . . . these blow those nasty dry things out of the water!
These are so soft and pliable . . . you could never do this with one from the shops. These were lovely. Just look how easily you can fold them up.
They went down a real treat and were so easy to make. I will never buy shop bought again.
*Yeast Free Naan*
Makes 4 breads
Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together. Warm the milk gently with the butter (cut into bits) to melt the butter. Cool to lukewarm and whisk in the yogurt. Stir this into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon to make a soft dough.
If the
dough is too stick, dust lightly with flour. Knead in the bowl for a
few minutes, then cover with a clean tea towel and let sit for half an
hour. At the end of that time, divide into 4 equal portions and shape
into balls. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch
thickness. Rotate slightly as you roll them, sprinkling lightly with
flour as you go until you have a rough oval shape.
Heat a large non-stick skillet or flat pancake griddle pan over medium high heat. Once it is hot you can start to bake the Naan's. Pick up and remove any excess flour by slapping the dough between your hands and flip it onto the pan.
Cook until the surface is covered with bubbles,
and it is lightly toasted on the bottom, flip over and repeat. Remove
to a clean tea-towel and cover to keep warm while you cook the rest.
This helps to keep them soft. Serve warm.
Note - if you want a garlic flavoured Naan, you can rub the surface of the finished breads with the cut side of a clove of garlic and brush with butter.
We enjoyed these so much, they have set a new standard for us in what we expect in a Naan! I hope you will try them. I am positive you will fall in love with them too! Bon Appetit!
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